When working in IT, whenever I would encounter a weird networking problem that I couldn't immediately identify, I'd suggest maybe it had something to do with sunspot activity. This usually got the affected people scratching their heads long enough that I could concentrate on actually working on the problem instead of listening to them asking me what the problem was.

I work in IT for a large cab company in California.When I get to work in the morning. I log in, check server status, check status of 4 different radio sites, then I go to spaceweather.com to check sunspot activity.With 300 Cabs running around with mobile radios and GPS there is just a lot that can go bad. Better to know.

Did you used to work for the US Postal Service? When the USPS went to DHCP about 7 years ago, our DHCP pool ran out of addresses within a year. One day, I couldn't get get RIS to connect in order to install Windows. After a while, we released an address from a PC and it worked perfectly, and the other machine couldn't get an address again. Our system administrator had to call and the first thing out of the guy's mouth was about sunspots or solar flares. It was about all our SA could do not to blow his top!!

Maybe not all, but they do inform pilots who are flying across the poles -- the Earth's magnetic field deflects some space weather, but ends up concentrating the stuff at the poles (which is why the Northern/Southern Lights are strongest near the poles)

The result is that many pilots won't fly those routes, instead taking other routes which often require an extra stop for refueling, or reducing the amount of luggage (to be brought later).

So if you're planning on a trip that's to the other hemisphere, odds ar

Maybe not all, but they do inform pilots who are flying across the poles -- the Earth's magnetic field deflects some space weather, but ends up concentrating the stuff at the poles (which is why the Northern/Southern Lights are strongest near the poles)

The result is that many pilots won't fly those routes, instead taking other routes which often require an extra stop for refueling, or reducing the amount of luggage (to be brought later).

So if you're planning on a trip that's to the other hemisphere, odds are, you're looking at delays and/or lost baggage.

Commercial pilots have little leeway over the routes they fly, so your statement that pilots avoid flying polar routes doesn't seem based on valid information. A better reason why polar routes aren't flown is because FAA rules require that planes never be further than a certain distance (referred to as ETOPS XXX, where XXX is the number of minutes flight time) from an airport where they can land in an emergency. Until Santa Claus opens up North Pole Field for international arrivals and departures, there j

I was a weather forecaster in the USAF and just looked at the Solar Weather page and there are "NO" alerts and "NO" large solar activity. If you read the ABC page it is just a 20-40% chance was from a report Monday. Has FOX news bought this website?

Are you trolling, or are you feeling pissy but are unsure of who to be angry at? The article was about current solar flares. The mention here is not to suggest that we don't know about solar flares, but to tell us that current solar flares are intense enough to be potentially disruptive.

Your rant is rather like going to wunderground and getting pissed that they're telling you it's going to snow today because we all know what snow is.

I know that not everyone knows this, but this is pretty old news to us Amateur Radio operators. We have know that solar activity effects radio propogation for what must seem like forever... Just saying.

Indeed the sun does have the main impact on the 'usability' of some bits of the radio spectrum, as do seasons, the time of day,
locations, receiver interference, (man made or natural) but there's plenty of other factors too. My main worrys are (as far as the sun
and our electrical systems are concerned are) Satellites, as more and more, formerly terrestrial communications are now becoming space based,
these are likely going to be the first items to ' cook ' - yes i know they can 'harden' them, but the syste